From water rules to chemical contamination, farmers are facing critical decisions on land management. The American Farm Bureau says that regulatory clarity and awareness are key, starting with the long-running fight over WOTUS.
According to Courtney Briggs with Farm Bureau, “We’ve seen this ping ponging back and forth of regulatory definitions now for decades, and now this new Trump administration has come in. They have said that they are going to do a new rule that brings the WOTUS definition in line with the Sackett decision that was decided back in May of 2023. Unfortunately, the Biden administration did not adhere to that Supreme Court decision. So this is the new Trump administration coming in and working to right that wrong and get a rule that is in line with the Supreme Court decision.”
She says the goal is to finally end the cycle of confusion by creating a durable rule that can hold up long-term. She also talked about another issue farmers need to be watching, and that is any action taken regarding forever chemicals, or PFAS.
“PFAS is a forever chemical. It is designed not to break down easily. The chemical bonds are woven so, so tightly that’s why we have waterproof, steamproof, greaseproof products because we use those PFAs chemicals. I think a lot of people like to use the Teflon pans as the prime example of an everyday product that contains PFAS chemicals. So why do we care about this? Well, unfortunately, there are instances of farm fields being contaminated with PFAS chemicals.”
Briggs says that farmers are urged to be cautious about accepting biosolids and to stay aware of potential risks, especially in areas near known sources of PFAs.
